Malaysia’s Chong Wei Feng produced a stunning upset in the first round of the China Open in Fuzhou, defeating world No. 7 Son Wan-ho of South Korea 21-14, 22-20 in 48 minutes.
Top seed Chen Long also began his title defense with a comfortable win, beating Tien Minh Nguyen 21-17, 21-8 on Wednesday.
Not every seed advanced. Kenichi Tago lost to Gao Huan of China, and Tian Houwei, also from China, exited early.
Men’s Singles
World No. 3 Jan O Jorgensen had no such trouble. The Dane dominated from the start against Boonsak Ponsara and won 21-13, 21-13. Jorgensen will face Lin Dan in the second round. Lin earlier defeated Taiwan’s Hsu Jen-hao 21-15, 23-21 in the first round.
Other players who reached the second round included fourth seed Tommy Sugiarto and last year’s runner-up Wang Zhengming. Sugiarto had to fend off a resurgent Brice Leverdez in the opening game before winning 21-16, 21-12. Wang beat Takuma Ueda 21-18, 21-17.
Seventh seed Hu Yun also advanced, defeating Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 21-17, 21-18.
Women’s Singles
All five seeded women in action on Wednesday secured second-round spots.
Ratchanok Intanon opened with a 21-19, 21-12 win over Hui Xuerui. Sixth seed Saina Nehwal needed three games to defeat Sayaka Takahashi 21-14, 19-21, 21-17.
Second seed Wang Shixian, the 2013 runner-up, was pushed into a deciding game by Busanan Ongbumrungpan. The Chinese player prevailed 21-12, 14-21, 21-12.
Wang Yihan and Tai Tzu-ying also advanced. Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, a semifinalist last year, lost 21-6, 21-16 to Bae Yeon-ju.
The biggest upset in the women’s singles came when Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying defeated reigning women’s world champion Carolina Marin of Spain, winning 21-14, 21-17.
Men’s Doubles
Second seeds Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan were eliminated by Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen of China, losing 21-23, 8-21 in 33 minutes. Malaysia’s Hoon Thien How and Tan Boon Heong fell to fourth seeds Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa of Japan, going down 15-21, 21-18, 15-21.